


Out of Sorts

by hyakinthos



Category: Vassalord
Genre: M/M, Post-Canon, cherry is a hopeless romantic, gotta love them gay vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-02
Updated: 2015-02-02
Packaged: 2018-03-10 03:01:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3274229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyakinthos/pseuds/hyakinthos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cherry refuses to tell Johnny what's wrong. Rated for mentions of sex and also for my mouth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Out of Sorts

  
It was a clear evening, about seven o'clock, and by all reasonable expectation Johnny should have just been waking up. Instead he lay on the couch in their little apartment, holding a book out above him at arm's length. It was a good story by all means, the whole reason he'd bought it was because it had recently received a literary award of relative prestige, but he wasn't really paying it any attention. His eyes slid over the words, and when there weren't any more he mindlessly turned the page. He briefly entertained the notion of bothering Charley, who was out on some kind of business or another. Nah, it wouldn't be polite. It would just irk him, and then he wouldn't be in the mood for anything when he got home. He hadn't said where he was going, so Johnny assumed it was to do with the recent reinstallation of the plating on Charley's skeleton. He couldn't say he really approved, but at least it was a practical move and his Cherry had sworn up and down that he wasn't going to go ax-crazy on his hands or vocal chords or anything else again. Couldn't have that.

  
Johnny was right about to drop the book when he heard someone, presumably Charley, unlocking the front door. He got up and made it to the door right before it opened, leaning back so that it didn't hit him. It had been Charley, looking a little more flustered than usual. Johnny counted backwards in his head, trying to calculate if he could be hungry or if it was something else. Had something happened? He didn't look upset per se, just a little red and out of breath.

  
"Hey, welcome home!"

  
Johnny laid his arms over his partner's shoulders, giving him a quick kiss.

  
"What were you out for today? Did you have another appointment or something?"

  
Charley shook his head, kissing him again as if to change the subject. If he'd still had a heartbeat, it could be inferred to be about as fast as a virgin's on her wedding night.

  
"I had something to attend to… I'm going to go take a shower," Charley replied, deflecting the question almost impolitely. He stepped away from Johnny and made a hasty retreat through the kitchen.

  
What was UP with him? He was acting like a child who'd stolen something from the grocery store. He'd never just brush Johnny off like that, not if something wasn't wrong. He hadn't done anything remotely like that for a long time now.

  
Apart from that, where had he been? He hadn't left a note like he usually did, and he obviously wasn't making any kind of media appearance given that he was dressed like he usually was. Did something attack him? No, he didn't look like he'd been in a fight.

  
Johnny sank down onto the couch, absently flipping on the TV. There wasn't anything good on, but it was better than sitting around and worrying about something that was probably God-related or superficial. Time passed, the program switched to some sort of dramatic reenactment of a medical emergency, and eventually he heard the shower stop running. Nobody had any business taking a shower quite so long as that one unless they were crying or someone else was with them. Hoping it didn't have anything to do with either of those options, Johnny turned his attention back to the program, which was managing to be both melodramatic and boring simultaneously.

  
A few minutes later, Charley walked into the living room. He didn't look like he was in any less of a state than he had been when he came home; the poor thing was sweating like a whore in church. Johnny turned his head, motioning for him to sit down.

  
"Did something happen?" Johnny asked after a few seconds. Charley was arranged into an even stiffer position than he usually was, and his clothing and hair were immaculate. Johnny took stock of his calendar mentally, wondering if he'd forgotten about any plans they'd made.

  
"No, no. Nothing has happened," Charley replied curtly, taking a deep breath even though he didn't really need to.

  
What could have possibly made him so nervous? Should he just be left alone? Could he have been hungry? It wasn't terribly likely… He was practically ready to handcuff his beloved to a table and start interrogating him when his thoughts were interrupted.

  
"Do you want to go for a walk?" he asked, looking slightly pained. He spoke in the kind of tone one would expect to be reserved for asking someone to help him hide a dead body.

  
"Alright. Are you sure you're okay?"

  
Charley stood up, insisting that it really was nothing. Johnny sighed, reluctantly fastening some of the buttons on his shirt. He slipped a cigarette between his teeth and held the door open for Charley.

  
A few harrowingly silent minutes later, they were out of the building. It was a Friday, so the nightlife was just starting to flicker on around them. Normally, Johnny would have tried to drag Charley into one of the nightclubs dotting the street that young people visited when they wanted to get wasted, fuck something, and ruin their reputations, but it didn't seem like the time.

  
They were holding hands like they usually did, and Johnny was appreciative of the flesh-and-bone hand that was back where it belonged, but tonight it was sweaty and shaky. He almost asked him if he was alright again, but decided against it. It wouldn't have been likely to get him anywhere besides 'on the shit list again.'  
Johnny had been so caught up in worrying that he hadn't realized that he didn't really have any idea where they were walking to. They'd made a couple turns, so he could safely assume that Charley had some route in mind, but that just made the situation a little more difficult to read.

  
"Where are we going?"

  
Charley almost jumped, closing his eyes briefly to calm himself. "You'll see," he finally responded.

  
"Seriously, Chris, please just tell me what's wrong. You look like you're having your teeth pulled, don't try to tell me everything's alright."

  
"You'll see," was the only answer he got, and Charley started to walk a tad bit faster. He had already been going at a pretty good pace, so it was almost difficult for Johnny to keep up.

  
Charley finally, mercifully stopped in front of a small pond at the edge of a park. It was fairly quiet, and the stars were just coming out. It was one of the more pleasant evenings to be on a walk, and if Charley hadn't been so discomposed it would have been nigh on idyllic.

  
Johnny flopped down on a bench, mopping at his forehead. Charley stayed standing, and the look on his face spoke volumes. This was what he'd been anticipating, and here he was, standing right behind the door of a hovering plane. He looked genuinely terrified, but oddly like he could break into uproarious laughter at any second. It was vaguely unsettling to be on the business end of, if only because Johnny was afraid he was about to hear something awful.

  
"Do you remember when I was young and I told you that I wanted to stay at your side?" he began, his words measured and his face a shade of crimson that was very in this season.

  
"I do," Johnny affirmed, all the little pieces finally coming together in his head. His bothered face had softened some; he was almost certain of what was about to happen.

  
"Well, I've been thinking. Lately, about that, and I thought that maybe it was time I made good on that."

  
His legs were trembling awfully, and he almost lost his balance as he took a knee. Johnny grinned like an idiot and laughed to himself. He had been certain that he would have to have been the one to buck up and do this.

  
Charley cleared his throat.

  
"Master, I want to make you absolutely certain I will never stray from your side. I'll carve it in stone, I'll do anything," Now would have, at any other time, been the point where Charley added a comma and 'within reason,' but he didn't. "I love you," he added earnestly, pulling a little velvet box from his pocket. He flipped it open and the gold band inside caught the light of a nearby streetlamp. Johnny pressed his hands to his mouth. It was beautiful! "I want to prove it, I want to prove that I'll shoulder all your troubles and take them for my own- if that's what you want. Master… Johnny…" He paused, blinking tears out of his eyes. He was beaming, every little sign that something was wrong completely gone, like a third wheel that sensed it was interrupting things. His voice broke a little when he spoke again, and the sound of it was positively endearing. "Will you do me the honor of making an honest man of me?"

  
There wasn't a single atom in Johnny's body that would have told him no.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Note: The phrase 'make an honest man of me' is used jokingly today, but was a legitimate line to use in a marriage proposal around the time Cherry grew up.
> 
> Semantics aside, I hope you all enjoyed.


End file.
